December 31, 2015

The incredible 2015 calendar year in MMA may be nearly over, but fight fans have a ton to look forward to in 2016.

Kicking off the year is the return of legendary heavyweight Fedor Emelianenko, who returns at a Rizin event on New Year's Eve. Emelianenko hasn't fought since mid-2012, and he's pushing 40 years old now, but he remains one of the biggest names in the sport, and his return on Spike TV -- dubbed "Breakfast with Fedor" -- is a great way to start the year, despite the fact that the legend is fighting an unknown opponent in Jaideep Singh.
As far as the UFC goes, the first event of the year is UFC 195, which is headlined by a potential welterweight war between champion Robbie Lawler and challenger Carlos Condit. Lawler is coming off of the 2015 Fight of the Year against Rory MacDonald, a fight he won via fifth-round TKO, while Condit returned from a major knee injury to smash Thiago Alves in his return bout to earn a title shot. Lawler and Condit are two of the most exciting strikers in the division, and the fact they are headlining UFC 195 makes the event a must-buy, as this is a fight that has excitement written all over it.

And that's just the first two months of the year. In July, UFC Featherweight Champion Conor McGregor, the biggest superstar in the sport, will more than likely defend his title against Frankie Edgar at UFC 200, with the slight possibility he would instead move up to fight UFC Lightweight Champion Rafael dos Anjos in a rare MMA superfight. Regardless of who McGregor fights, his next bout will be a huge pay-per-view ticket, especially if he's paired at UFC 200 with the rematch between UFC Women's Bantamweight Champion Holly Holm and former champ Ronda Rousey. If both McGregor and Rousey fight on the same card, it's possible the UFC breaks its PPV buyrate record of 1.6 million from back in 2009 at UFC 100, which was headlined by former heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar and co-headlined by former welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre. And speaking of those two ex-champs, while Lesnar returning to MMA is a pipedream, there is a chance GSP makes a return to the sport later in 2016. If and when he does, that's going to be huge for the sport, regardless of who his opponent is.

Another huge fight that fans will see in the coming year is UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Daniel Cormier defending his belt against former champ Jon Jones, who had his belt stripped and who has been sitting out for the past year due to legal issues. The first Jones vs. Cormier fight at UFC 182 was huge, and the rematch promises to hold even more intrigue, with Jones coming into the bout off of a lengthy layoff and Cormier now holding the belt.

Over in Bellator there isn't as much excitement on the horizon, although its lightweight division, with champ Will Brooks, former champ Michael Chandler, and former Strikeforce champion Josh Thomson, should give the fans something to look forward to, while freakshow fights like the trilogy between Royce Gracie and Ken Shamrock will bring in viewers, despite not being very exciting on paper. And in WSOF we can always look forward to the next title defences from lightweight champ Justin Gaethje and bantamweight champ Marlon Moraes.

Phew, that was a lot, but there are so many good fights coming up in 2016 that it wouldn't be right to leave any of them out. 2015 was a great year, but 2016 has the potential to be even better. Buckle up, MMA fans.